LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

-CHoY^ 

Shelf __.1.G:5. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



IEEIGATION 



FOR 



The Farm 




/by 
A. E. GIPSON, 

AUTHOR OF HORTICULTURE BY IRRIGATION, 
WHEN AND HOW TO IRRIGATE, ETC. 




DENVER, COLORADO. 
The Republican Publishing Co. 



Copyrighted 1889 by 

A. E. Gtpson, 
G-reeley, Colorado. 



u& 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Preface 3 

General Remarks 7 

Turning on the Waters 8 

The Duty of Water 9 

When and How to Irrigate 12 

Description of Irrigation 14 

Systems of Irrigation 18 

The New Agriculture 19 

The Asbestine System 20 

Other Methods 22 

Steam Vacuum Pumps 23 

Fall Irrigation 23 

Pall Plowing 24 

Irrigating the Grain Fields 26 

The Period of Irrigation 27 

Results of Irrigation , 28 

The Union Colony of Colorado 28 

A Very Good Irrigating Flume 31 

Irrigation Laws 32 

Improvements Needed 35 

Canal Construction 36 

Xiist of Grains, Grasses, Etc., for General Planting 42 

Esparsette (Cut of) 44 

Alfalfa and Esparsette 45 

Corn, Cane, and Fodder Crops 49 

The Field Pea 51 

Tobacco 51 

The Potato 52 



4 IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 

Convenient Potato Cellar." 53 

Buckwheat 54 

Peanuts » 55 

The Sugar Beet 55 

Conclusion , 57 

Best Soil, Number of Irrigations, Etc., for Various Crops 58 



PEEFAOE. 

The great importance of artificial irrigation to the 
Agricultural development of our Country, and the mani 
fest need of some simple guide to the proper application of 
water to field crops, has prompted the preparation of this 
work. It is written for practical men, and especially to 
assist the beginner in farming by irrigation. The limits of 
the work have precluded extended discussion, and mere 
theories have been avoided as much as possible. 

Greeley Nurseries and Gardenside A. E. G. 

Fruit Farm, 
Greeley, Colo., May, 1889. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 

The essentials to best results in all branches of Agri- 
culture under irrigation are, deep stirring of the soil, and 
thorough preparation of the ground in advance of planting. 
In farming by irrigation it should be understood at the 
outset, that results will always depend vastly more upon 
the ability to command and apply the water at the right 
time, than upon the quantity of water used, though the 
supply be ever so abundant. 

Again plowing and sowing should be done, and the 
arrangement of the crop be such that the things to be 
grown may receive water according to their needs. In 
other words, they should not be so mixed that irrigation 
has to be indiscriminate, regardless of requirements or 
results. This will be apparent when it is known that some 
things need vastly more water than others, and at a differ- 
ent time, and further, that while one method of irrigation 
would be necessary for one crop, it would not only be 
improper, but might prove fatal, to another. The small 
grains and grasses for example have to be flooded. The 
hoed crops as a rule require later irrigation and a different 
system. So too, the hoed crops differ in themselves with 
respect to moisture requirements. Hence, it is important 
to plant with these precautions in view. 




TURNING ON THE WATERS. 



THE DUTY OF WATER 

The question is often asked : " How much water is 
needed to each acre of farm land ? " 

The question is too indefinite to admit of an intelli- 
gent answer. In the first place, crops differ with respect 
to moisture requirements. For example, oats and wheat 
will require more than rye and barley ; and buckwheat, 
amber cane and corn, still less than the other grains. 
Again, " So many conditions are to be taken into consid- 
eration in determining how much water may or may not be 
needed for any given crop, and so little thought has, until 
quite recently, been devoted to the matter of economizing 
water, that little data that is at all reliable can be given. 
Broad generalization, bordering closely on to ' guess work,' 
has been the rule. That there are difficulties in the way of 
arriving at accurate conclusions in these investigations, 
must be seen at a glance. Local conditions, character of 
the soils, slope of the land, cultivation, humidity, evapora- 
tion, precipitation, drainage and capillary action, are so 
widely at variance in different localities, that there is small 
hope of getting any formula that will admit of extended 
application. Then, too, the demands of plant life are vari- 
able." * 

The cubic foot per second is the unit of measurement 
usually adopted in the distribution of water from or by the 

* Note.— For a further discussion of this subject see " Horticulture by Irriga- 
tion," pages 9 to 14 inclusive. 



'O IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 

large irrigating canals of Colorado. A quantity of water 
equivalent to a continuous flow of one cubic foot per sec- 
ond, during the irrigating season of one hundred days, will 
usually irrigate from fifty to sixty acres of land. It will 
often do much more than this.* 

The duty of water is constantly increasing in nearly 
every portion of the country where irrigation is practiced. 
To-day in Colorado, some engineers and canal companies 
are making the standard of duty nearly double what it 
formerly was here. But the crops grown, the system used, 
and the means of applying water, all cut a very important 
figure. Where flooding takes thousands of gallons, the 
furrow system only requires hundreds, and sub-irrigation 
tens of gallons for a similar area. 

Setting aside the question of the actual quantity of 
water used or needed for irrigation, we find that even com- 
paring the flow of water allotted to farmers for as long as 
they like there are the widest differences. " Taking the 
flow of one cubic foot to the second (available during the 
season for cereals of Colorado and all the year round for 
the orchards of California) without making allowance for 
different rainfalls, this supplies in Colorado fifty-three acres; 
Italy 70.2 acres ( Col. Baird Smith). Utah, San Barnadino, 
CaL, and France 80 to 100 acres. San Gabriel, California, 
120 acres; Fresno, CaL, 160 acres; India, 150 to 200 acres, 
( Sira Colton) Los Angeles and Anaheim, Cal., rather over 

* Note— A cubic foot of water is that quantity of water which a vessel one foot 
in length, depth and width will contain when filled. It is equivalent to about 
seven and one-half gallons. One cubic foot per second is the capacity of a ditch 
that can exactly fill such a vessel each second of time. 



THE DUTY OF WATER. II 

200 acres; Riverside, California, nearly 300 acres; Ontario, 
Redlands, Cal., Algeria and parts of India, 400 acres ; 
Sierra Madra, Cal, 580 acres ; Spain as high as 1000 acres; 
Pasadena, Cal., 1665 acres; and by sub-irrigation accord- 
ing to one or two experiments 1500 to 9000 acres." * 

It will be seen then that the points which enter into 
anything like an accurate estimate of the real duty of 
water are numerous, and that when they are ignored any 
statement in the premises can have little more weight than 
mere guess work. 

The aim should be to apply moisture so that the high- 
est results may be secured with the utmost economy in the 
use of water, and this aim can never be accomplished until 
there is not only ample provision for storing the waters 
that now run to waste, but to also convey and utilize them 
with the least possible loss from seepage, evaporation, or 
any other cause. 

This whole business needs the most thorough and 
careful systematizing. 



* Report on American Irrigation by Hon. Alfred Dakin, M. P., Victoria, 
Australia. 



WHEN AND HOW MUCH TO IRRIGATE. 

One fact should be kept constantly in mind, which is, 
that soils as well as crops differ with respect to moisture 
requirements. 

Cultivation, too, as already stated, will have an impor- 
tant bearing in determining the question of water supply. 
The soil that is deeply stirred and mellowed is the one that 
most readily diffuses moisture, and this is one of the chief 
aids to artificial irrigation. Such a condition of soil is the 
one to be sought, for any crop. It is better both for the 
deep and the shallow rooting plant. To get the best re- 
sults from any system of irrigation one must put the plow 
down well, and where the cultivator and hoe are needed, 
keep them a-going during the growing season. 

Among the small grains, oats and wheat usually 
require two irrigations during the season. The first time, 
along the last of May or first of June, or when the grain 
is six inches or so above ground, and the second time as it 
is beginning to head. 

It is rarely necessary to irrigate land in order to bring 
grain up, but this has been resorted to once or twice in 
Colorado during seasons of little or no rainfall in the 
spring months. 

Farmers dislike to resort to this, but they should not 
hesitate to where the heavens fail to supply the moisture 
needed. The rule among experienced irrigators is to use 



DESCRIPTION OF IRRIGATION. I 3 

all the water they can possibly handle, and if they have not 
enough of their own, they often exchange with neighbors. 
When at the work, keep the water a-flowing and never stop 
for an ordinary rain until the crop is gone over. 

The rains on our Western plains are deceptive, and 
should not be relied on to take the place of a thorough 
irrigation. 

Oats, as a rule, require more moisture than any of the 
other small grains* and should be sown as early as possible 
in the season. In fact, it maybe said of all the small 
grains that the sooner they are in after the soil is in good 
condition to work, the better. One irrigation is usually 
sufficient for both barley and rye. Where fall planting is 
done the seed should be covered deeper than in the spring. 

While many practice sowing the grain broadcast, the 
use of the drill has its advantages, both in economy in seed 
and in the certainty of germination. And especially is 
drilling preferable when the soil is in the right condition 
for the reception of the seed. 

Corn, amber cane, broom corn and all similar products 
require substantially the same treatment with respect to 
irrigation. 

As a rule, one thorough watering will be all that is 
needed and sometimes this may be dispensed with if the 
cultivation is ample and the soil naturally moist. In all 
such crops, deep plowing, or stirring of the ground in 
advance of planting, is the one thing needful. 

* Note.— Some have had extra large yields of oats by almost continuous irriga- 
tion, from the time the crop begins to head, until the grain begins to turn. The 
claim made is that this practice checks the first stand, and forces the grain to root, 
stool and head very abundantly. 



14 IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 

We append a very good description of irrigation by 
flooding, and the essentials to the best results with this 
system, from the pen of a prominent Colorado farmer:* 

DESCRIPTION OF IRRIGATION. 

"The contemplated irrigation of a field of grain need- 
ing water, necessarily presupposes a number of things 
already accomplished ; that the farmer is a stock holder in 
some large canal, taken from some river or smaller stream 
not far away; or, that he has hired the water for the sea- 
son ; at all events, that he has secured the right to its use; 
also, that he has constructed the lateral ditch, as we term 
it in Colorado, which is to convey his water from the main 
canal down to the border of his farm. 

" If he is a wise farmer, too, and has had much experi- 
ence in irrigation, the mere fact that he is presuming to use 
the water after he gets it into his lateral and down to his 
own field, presupposes, also, that before his grain came up, 
or at least when it was yet extremely small, he plowed sub- 
laterals through it with a heavy double mould-board plow 
much used for that purpose in Northern Colorado. These 
sub-laterals, of course start from the larger lateral, at the 
border of the field or farm to be watered. They should be 
from twenty inches to two feet wide on the bottom, from 
eighty to one hundred feet apart, according to the lay of 
the land ; should take exactly the course unconfined water 
would run if turned loose upon the surface of the soil with 
no regard to to the points of the compass unless they coin- 
cide with the lines of drainage, a thing that very seldom 



*Mr. J. Max Clark, of Greeley, Colorado. 



DESCRIPTION OF IRRIGATION. I 5 

happens, and they should proceed on parallel lines as near 
as may be, clear across the field to be irrigated. 

"All the mouths of these sub-laterals, at the point 
where they intersect the border lateral, are closed with 
dams, or with small box flumes with gates in them, until 
they are needed to draw the water into the field. 

"Suppose, now, that all these preliminary preparations 
have been made, you begin, in the first sub-lateral, on the 
side of your grain, making a compact dam in it, with dirt 
taken from its bottom, you place this dam in the sub- 
lateral, perhaps thirty feet from its mouth in the main 
lateral, from which you intend to draw water, then you 
strip off the bank of the sub-lateral for a couple of feet 
just above the dam you have made in it, and on the side 
from which you wish the water to flow into your field of 
grain. 

" Having done this, you next remove the ga'e from the 
flume in the mouth of the sub-lateral, or the dirt dam as 
the case may be, the water now immediately rushes down 
to the dam you have placed below, and you must do so too, 
to pack the dirt on it as it begins to settle, and to put on 
more if necessary to prevent it from giving away. 

"The water backs up, and meeting with this check, 
begins to fill the sub-lateral ; rises to the surface, flows over 
the depression made in its bank; silently spreads itself 
through the standing grain, and — this, my friend, is 
irrigation. 

"If your soil is comparatively smooth on its surface; if 
you have plowed your laterals in the right direction through 
your field; if you plowed them deep enough, and the banks 



1 6 IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 

are therefore high enough and strong enough to keep the 
water now spreading through the grain from breaking into 
the sub-laterals again anywhere below the dam; and — if 
you have the water, the process will now be quite simple, 
it will spread evenly across the space between the lateral 
you are using, and the one next beyond, forming a shallow 
silently running stream, eighty or a hundred feet wide as 
the case may be, and will slowly creep its way downward 
in the direction the sub-laterals run through the field. 
Where your supply of water is abundant, you can facilitate 
the flow by using two of these sub-laterals at once, and 
turning both streams into the same strip of grain, that is — 
flow the water from the left bank of one sub-lateral, and 
from the right bank of the other. 

" Where the conditions are all perfect, water turned into 
a field of grain, in the manner described, will run thirty, 
forty, fifty and even a hundred rods without a change of 
dams. As, however, the flow can be greatly facilitated, 
and a more economical use of the water effected, — always 
a great consideration — by frequent changes, it is best not 
to let it run more than half an hour from the same orifice. 
A change is effected by going below the first dam to some 
point already reached by the water, and making a second 
dam and a second opening similar to the first. Then the 
first dam is removed and the bank repaired, and thus the 
operation goes on until the whole field is completed. 

"A simple contrivance, called a ' canvas dam,' has of 
late years come into use, which greatly lessens the labor of 
making these small dams. It consists of a piece of heavy 
canvas ducking, about a yard and a half by two yards in 



DESCRIPTION OF IRRIGATION. 1 7 

size, made up in the form of a window curtain, with a 
pole through a tuck in one end. In use, the rod or pole in 
the canvas is dropped across a sub-lateral, at some point 
where a dam is required, the flap or bottom end of the 
curtain extending up stream in the lateral. A little earth 
is now placed upon the edge to hold it down when the 
water strikes it, and the dam is complete. 

"To remove the dam, the cross pole is seized in both 
hands and pulled up stream, when it is rolled backward 
through the water, the bottom at once becomes loose and 
the current passes to the next canvas already placed below." 



SYSTEMS OF IRBIGATIOK 

Although the two systems of irrigation (by flooding 
and soakage by the furrow) are the ones generally used on 
the farm at the present time, it seems only a question of 
not many years, when other systems will be adopted quite 
largely. Instead of open canals and laterals, water will be 
conveyed by pipes and conduits or through enclosed 
channels, and made to do more than quadruple duty by 
under surface application. 

In the artesian belts, great flowing wells will supply 
the average farm, and even large tracts with an abundance 
of water, as they are now doing in portions of California, * 
but these must be utilized in connection with a proper 
system of reservoirs or storage. In fact, the irrigation of 



* A fair flow is struck at an average depth of 400 feet and afterwards other flows 
are reached at short intervals, and experience has thus far shown that any quantity 
of water required can be obtained by going deep enough. Many wells will irrigate 
a section of land, and there are a few that will suffice for several, or perhaps for 
three or four thousand acres, if the water were collected in reservoirs and properly 
applied. The wells on Miramonte are among the very largest. 

In the northern part of the Artesian Belt, just south and southeast of Tulare 
Lake, there are known to be thirty-four wells within a radius of ten miles; some 
deep and others shallow, as more or less water is wanted, Among the deep ones, in 
that district, with their average flow each for twenty-four hours, and the names of 
the owners of the land upon which they are situate, are the following; Brusie, 
2,000,000 gallons; Haley, 2,400,000; Spring, 2,000,000; Mays, 1,200,000; Robinson, 
1,000,000; Raymond, 1,500,000; -Moore, 2,500,000; Moebus, 500,000; Haggin, 1,500,000; 
another, 1,600,000; another. 2,200,000; and another, 900,000; Hogan, 2,200,000; Arnold, 
1,500,000; Smith, 3,000,000; Robinson, 2,000,000; Hutchins, 2,000,000; Miramonte 
Colony, 2,700,000. 



SYSTEMS OF IRRIGATION. 1 9 

the future, by whatever plan, will be synonymous with an 
improved and extensive system of reservoirs. 

THE NEW AGRICULTURE. 

It is possible that the best system of irrigation for this 
western country, at least, has not yet been discovered. 
The "New Agriculture" provides for storing the waters in 
parallel trenches four or five feet deep, and of the same 
width, below frost line, and filling in these trenches with 
round stones to the depth of eighteen inches or two feet, 
tiling to be used if stones are not to be had, then shingling 
over with flat stones, or tile, or timber. After which, to 
prevent the earth from filling up the spaces between the 
stones, any coarse material like straw, hay, weeds, corn- 
stalks or fine brush are placed on. A heavy coating of 
manure may follow this, and then the excavated soil is 
placed on top. A series of these trenches are constructed 
on an incline, one above the othei'j about a rod apart ; these 
main reservoirs or trenches are connected with smaller 
trenches, about eighteen inches from the surface, partly 
filled in with small stones, and designed to connect and 
convey the surplus water from the trench above to the one 
below. These are called overflow trenches. Each of 
these main trenches, then, becomes a reservoir capable of 
holding three feet or more of water before it overflows into 
the cross trenches. This is the method by which Mr. Cole 
would store and conserve the rains and melting snows for 
use when needed, and it affords an excellent illustration of 
the principle of irrigation by capillary attraction, or by the 
gradual and uniform raising and diffusion of moisture from 



20 IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 

below. Beyond a question it is correct in principle, and I 
am prepared to believe all the reports of results from 
experiments at the " Home on the Hillside." As to what 
extent this system may be utilized in other parts of the 
country, and under conditions widely different from those 
where tests have proven so satisfactory, remains to be 
seen. Mr. Cole not only reports amazing yields under the 
system, but claims remarkable immunity from disease for 
all products grown in that way. The expense of fitting 
the land for this plan amounts to several hundred dollars 
an acre, where it has been tested, which of itself, appears 
almost a bar to an extended adoption of the system. But 
Mr. Cole does not so regard it, and writes under date of 
Dec. 28th, 1887: "As for cost of fitting lands; were it to 
cost ten thousand millions to fit under my system the soils 
of Colorado, as a return interest, at six per cent, would be 
realized, as near as I calculate, on $qoo,ooo,ooo,uoo,ooo,- 
000,000. Don't vote me a crank, now, but wait." The pro- 
gress of the New Agriculture will be watched with 
interest. 

THE ASBESTINE SYSTEM. 

This method of sub-irrigation was devised in Cali- 
fornia by E. M. Hamilton, and is sometimes called the 
" Hamilton Process." It consists of pipes made of a com- 
bination of Portland cement, lime, sand and gravel, laid at 
a depth of two feet below the surface of the ground, paral- 
lel to the rows of trees or vines in an orchard or vineyard. 
In these pipes, on the upper side, is inserted a wooden plug 
opposite each tree or vine, the plugs having tapering holes 



SYSTEMS OF IRRIGATION. 21 

in the center one-fourth to three-eights of an .inch in 
diameter, through which the water finds exit. Each plug 
is surrounded by a larger stand pipe, setting loosely on top 
of the distributing pipe, open at the bottom and reaching 
to the surface of the ground, for the purpose of keeping 
the dirt away from the outlet, and rendering it accessible at 
all times for inspection. The pipes are connected with 
mains leading from a reservoir. The water finds its way 
through all the outlets, filling the stand pipes, and slowly 
percolating to the roots of the plants. No water appears 
on the surface. 

The claim is made for this method that it effects a very 
great saving of water over the ordinary means of surface 
application; that it requires far less time and labor; that 
it may be used for the distribution of liquid manure ; that it 
does not cause the ground to bake with the heat of the 
sun — no water appearing at the surface; that no grading is 
necessary ; that the growth of weeds is checked ; and, 
finally, that it induces deep, instead of shallow rooting, as 
is the tendency with surface irrigation. 

The further claim is made that, by keeping the water 
from standing on the surface of the ground, injurious de- 
posits of alkali are avoided. These points are strong, and 
if they can be sustained, which is by no means improbable 
in many localities, the system is destined to great popular- 
ity and usefulness. In many parts of California it is giving 
much satisfaction. 

The Australian member of parliament, Mr. Dakin, 
from whose report we have already quoted, in commenting 
on this system, after a mention of the fact that irrigation 



22 IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 

beneath the surface, if not excessive, is considered the 
most perfect method of supplying water to vegetable life; 
because it can avoid the dangers of over-saturation, surface 
caking, and of washing out the richer elements in the soil, 
as well as accomplish an enormous saving in water, says : 
" It certainly appears that sub-irrigation is the hope of the 
most intelligent irrigators, because it promises a great 
economy of water, and the most direct application of it to 
the thirsty tree that it is possible to devise." 

The difficulties that naturally suggest themselves in 
in the way of complete success in this plan are the liability 
to have the pipes stopped up, either by tree roots or sedi- 
ment. The advocates of the system claim that both these 
dangers have been anticipated by ample provision for 
either guarding against or clearing obstructions of this 
kind. Nevertheless, it is probable that in some localities 
obstructions similar to those named might be serious draw- 
backs to the successful working of any system of convey- 
ing water by pipes. But that all these hindrances will 
ultimately be overcome, there seems little doubt.* 

OTHER METHODS. 

Mention has been made of Artesian Wells, which are 
proving so effective as a means of water supply in some 
regions. This method, however, must be limited to what' 
are termed the Artesian Belts. 

Wind mills and hydraulic appliances for raising water, 
are also being used with greater or less success, all over 



* Note— For the further discussion of "The Best System of Irrigation" see 
" Horticulture by Irrigation," pages 15 to 2f) inclusive. 



SYSTEMS OF IRRIGATION. 23 

the land. But the steam pump promises to become a 
most important factor in utilizing water for irrigation pur- 
poses, where a supply can be found at no considerable 
depth below the surface, The best of these that I have 
seen or heard of are the Steam Vacuum Pumps which are 
now being manufactured at Greeley. This pump has a 
capacity of from fifty to 2,000 gallons per minute, depend- 
ing on size. In point of economy it has great merit, as 
atmospheric pressure does the work. Runs with waste (or 
exhaust) steam from any engine. If run with live steam 
the claim is made that it will raise 50,000 gallons of water 
thirty feet high with one bushel of coal. 

This pump seems to possess the merit of cheapness, 
simplicity, durability and economy in use, and the capacity 
to do the maximum amount of work with the minimum 
expense. It promises to be of especial value to fruit 
growers, commercial gardners, and those having small 
farms favorably located for utilizing the under surface 
water supply. 

FALL IRRIGATION. 

Without the soil is cold, or unusually moist from any 
cause, water may be advantageously applied before the 
winter sets in. Indeed, this practice is being adopted quite 
generally by successful cultivators where water can be had, 
and is especially to be commended in the preparation for 
crops which require the maximum amount of moisture, or 
where the water supply is likely to be short. It places the 
land in the condition of a storage reservoir for the suc- 
ceeding season, and experience has shown that the soil 



24 IRRIGATION FOR TKE FARM. 

that his received a thorough irrigation in the fall, or early 
winter, has a big advantage over ground that has not. . 
Hence it is worth while to emphasize the supreme value of 
applying water at this time. Keep the ditches ready and 
the gates in repair, so they may be used in the fall as well 
as spring. 

FALL PLOWING. 

This is another matter that needs more attention on 
the part of the farmers by irrigation, than it has received. 
At the outset it is safe to say that some lands should not 
be plowed in the fall. These are the light, sandy or 'grav- 
elly soils, except perhaps at breaking, when the sod may 
be lightly turned under. When the tendency is to dry out 
too rapidly or blow away, fall plowing should not be 
resorted to. But the heavy, tenacious soil can be better 
subdued by deep stirring at this season than at any other 
time, because it gives the frost and snows full action on the 
upturned soil. Besides, deep and thorough disintegration 
will accomplish the first step in the retention of the soil of 
the moisture needed. 

So the claim is made that one irrigation on land that 
has been deeply plowed is as good as three irrigations on 
shallow plowed land.* 

Fall plowing, like fall irrigation, will be practiced 
more and more in the future where conditions are favor- 
able, and experience is showing most conclusively that 
excellent results may be secured by a timely use of water 
and the plow at this season of the year. Besides this, in 



* " Horticulture by Irrigation," pages 11 and 12. 



SYSTEMS OF IRRIGATION. 25 

many sections of country fall seeding is done to good pur- 
pose and in all such cases it is safe to put down the imple- 
ment used to a generous depth. 




IRRIGATING THE GRAIN FIELD. 



THE PEEIOD OF IEEIGATIOK 

This usually begins with most sowed crops during the 
last days of May, Corn and similar products will not 
require irrigation until later. 

The " flooding" system is used for grains and grasses, 
and the furrow or soakage system for hoed crops. 

As it is not the purpose of this work to treat in detail 
the subject of farm irrigation, no attempt will be made to 
mention all the products that might be successful under a 
system of artificial watering. Only the leading crop 
staples, or those that promise to become such in the great 
irrigation belts of the west, will be discussed in a general 
way. A table given on page 58 will serve as something of 
a guide as to soils and the number of irrigations usually 
required for the farm crops most largely cultivated. 

The statement is here made that in a climate like that 
of Colorado, on the average soil, nearly all grasses and 
forage plants should receive an irrigation immediately after 
each cutting. Meadows and grass lands, too, may be 
usually watered with profit as the growth is starting in the 
spring. While this is true, it is worth while to repeat that 
the determining of the frequency of irrigation is a matter 
that must rest largely on the judgment of the irrigator in 
any given case. As to soils, the ideal one is not always to 
be found, but if one has the deep, sandy loam, with clayey 
subsoil, not too heavy, he has a good starter in the direc- 
tion of successful farming by irrigation. It is a very safe 
" general purpose " soil. 



RESULTS OF IRRIGATION". 

THE UNION COLONY OF COLORADO. 

As this colony was the first and most notably success- 
ful attempt in this country at agricultural colonization 
under a system of artificial irrigation, a brief sketch of the 
enterprise may be of interest in this connection. 

Union Colony is located in Weld County, Colorado, 
near the junction of the South Platte and Cache la Poudre 
rivers, in latitude 40 25' North, longitude 27 48' West 
from Washington. It was established here in 1870 by a 
locating committee consisting of N. C. Meeker, IT. T. 
West and Gen'l R. A. Cameron, and soon founded what is 
now the beautiful and prosperous city of Greeley. The 
elevation of the city is something less than 4,800 feet 
above sea level. 

The total amount of land originally occupied and con- 
trolled by the Colony was about 30,000 acres. This was 
acquired either by direct purchase of railroad, government 
or individuals, or by special contract for the control of such 
land for a stated period. 

The town proper comprised some 800 acres, which 
was subdivided into 1,500 lots and blocks. The land out- 
side the town limits was divided into five, ten, twenty and 
forty-acre tracts, according to the distance from the busi- 
ness center. These tracts were deeded to members of the 
Colony, with a perpetual water right from the irrigating 
canals (to be built) in consideration of the payment of 



RESULTS OF IRRIGATION. 2Q. 

$150 for each, this amount being the membership fee. 
This membership also entitled the holder to the right to 
purchase both a residence and business lot in town at a 
reasonable figure, on condition that improvement was 
made on the same within a limited time. 

Those members of the Colony who bought railroad 
land, or filed on government tracts were permitted to buy 
perpetual water rights on the basis of $150 for each eighty 
acres. 

The proceeds from the sale of lands, lots and water 
were used for various public improvements, like construct- 
ing canals, erecting a fine school building (at a cost of 
$30,000), laying out and grading streets, planting trees, etc. 

The first canal was built in 1870 at an original cost of 
$10,000. It was ten miles long, with a grade or fall of 
three, feet to the mile. Its capacity at first was fifty cubic 
feet per second, but later enlargements have more than 
doubled that capacity and increased the expense to about 
$25,000. 

The second canal was built in 1871, and has cost up 
to the present time about $80,000. It covers some 25,000 
acres of land, is thirty miles in length, has a grade of 
three and two-tenths feet per mile, with a capacity of 585 
cubic feet of water per second. It is now twenty-five feet 
wide on the bottom and for the first ten miles carries four 
and six-tenths feet in depth. The annual cost to the 
owners of land under this canal for the maintenance, 
superintendence and necessary improvements has been 
from $10 to $24 for each eighty acres. The smaller sub- 
divisions are proportionately assessed for the same purpose. 



30 IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 

Water rights have advanced rapidly in value and are to day 
worth from $r,ooo to #1,400 per eighty acres. The larger 
of these two canals is now owned and controlled entirely 
by a corporation composed of farmers operating under it, 
the Colony having some years since transferred its interest 
and control to this company. 

The maximum quantity of water in these streams fed 
by the mountain snows is reached in June and July, and 
these are the months of greatest activity among irrigators. 

One cubic foot of water per second is generally used 
on from fifty to sixty acres of land around Greeley ; but 
farmers often facilitate irrigation by exchanging with each 
other, so that they frequently use two or three water 
rights on an eighty-acre piece. 

The amount of water flowing in the river each day is 
known by means of a gauging station located above all the 
canals, and this enables the water commissioner to as>ign 
to each canal the quantity of water to which it is entitled. 
This in turn is subdivided and apportioned to users by the 
superintendents of the various canals. 

The principal farm crops are wheat, oats, corn, pota- 
toes and alfalfa. The soil is lasting and very productive 
under a judicious rotation of crops. Vegetables and small 
fruits are also grown abundantly in and around the city. 
Special varieties of standard fruits also do well. 

Mixed farming is now receiving considerable attention 
and irrigation is being more thoroughly systemized each 
year. 

The success of Union Colony may be attributed 
mainly (1) to the moral and intellectual character of its 



RESULTS OF IRRIGATION. 



31 



members, (2) to the integrity of the financial management, 
(3) to the fundamental law incorporated in every deed pro- 
hibiting the traffic in intoxicating liquors, (4) to a reason- 
able co-operative basis and (5), but not least, to a location 
combining many natural and desirable advantages. 




A VERY GOOD IRRIGATING PLUME. 



IKK1GATI0TC LAWS. 

Notwithstanding considerable legislation has been had 
and constitutional provisions enacted, in Colorado, upon 
matters pertaining to water distribution from the streams 
of the State, important questions are constantly arising 
that must be met, not only by the courts, but by law 
makers as well. Hence, existing laws can scarcely be 
said to be ample to cover and protect all of the interests 
involved. 

Artificial irrigation is becoming a highly complex 
and important system, and may be fairly said to lay at the 
very foundation of the prosperity of many States and Ter- 
ritories of the West. More than this, it is fast assuming 
National importance. 

The system of reservoirs contemplated by the Gov- 
ernment will become a gigantic National enterprise that 
will require much legislation and adjudication to perfect. 
Hence, existing laws may be said to be yet in a crude state. 
The following is given as an outline of the most important 
provisions upon the subject in Colorado : 

Persons occupying lands in the neighborhood of 
streams are entitled to use the water thereof for irrigating 
purposes, and hence have the right-of-way to a point of 
the stream high enough to raise the water to a proper 
level. 



IRRIGATION LAWS. 33 

In case of insufficiency of supply, three commission- 
ers, appointed by the county judge, shall apportion the 
water to different sections on alternate days of the week. 

Ditches have the right-of-way, but two ditches may 
not be cut through the same land when one can be made 
to carry the necessary amount of water. 

The shortest route must be taken, and the owner must 
permit a ditch to be enlarged when necessary for the 
accommodation of other persons, upon payment of a 
reasonable compensation 

If the channel of a stream changes, the head of the 
ditch may be changed accordingly. Any person con- 
structing (or enlarging) a ditch must have recorded in the 
office of the county clerk a full description of the ditch, its 
capacity, and date of construction or enlargement, and no 
priority of right attaches until such a statement is filed. 

Persons who have used the natural overflow from any 
stream have in case the supply is diminished from any 
cause the same priority of right to dig a ditch as if the 
ditch had been constructed when they first occupied the 
land irrigated. 

Reservoirs for storing any unappropriated water may 
be maintained, provided no embankments more than ten 
feet high shall be erected without the approval of the 
county commissioners. The owners of such reservoirs are 
liable for all damages from breakage or leakage. Owners 
of ditches have the right to erect any machinery neces- 
sary to raise the water to the proper level. They shall 
maintain such embankments that the property of others 
shall not be damaged, and shall return the surplus water, 
through a tail-ditch with as little waste as possible. 



34 IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 

Vested rights of miD-owners shall not be impaired. 

Whenever a ditch crosses a public road the owner 
shall erect a substantial bridge, and maintain it thereafter. 
If not built within three days, the county supervisors must 
do it, and collect the cost from the party who should have 
built it. 

Head gates must be kept strong enough to control 
the water, and the owner failing to keep them so is liable 
for all damages. 

Water rates are fixed and all matters pertaining 
thereto determined by the county commissioners. The 
lands of the State are divided by law into different districts, 
and the governor appoints water commissioners for the 
several districts, who have general control and regulation 
of the water. 

Any person willfully damaging a ditch or reservoir 
with intent to injure any person, or wilfully opening or 
closing a water gate without authority, is guilty of a mis- 
demeanor, and subject to fine and imprisonment. 

Justices of the peace have jurisdiction of such offenses^ 
with the right of appeal. 

Ditches where water is not sold for the purpose of 
deriving a revenue are exempt from taxation. 

There are very elaborate rules with regard to location, 
priority of rights, and proceedings in court in cases of 
contests. 



IMPKOVEMEJSITS DEEDED. 

The time is not far distant, let us hope, when much of 
the annoyance which is experienced in the construction 
and maintenance of open ditches, may be overcome by the 
use of tiling or pipes of some kind for conveying water. 
When this plan can be cheaply and effectively adopted it 
will not only prove a great saving of water, both from 
evaporation, seepage, natural soakage and the like, but will 
avoid the unpleasant consequence of breakage, overflowing 
and other occurrences which now demand almost constant 
vigilance on the part of those having the control of ditches. 

In this connection observations are given from leading 
Colorado engineers on canal construction and water meas- 
urements. But the remark is here made, that nothing 
entirely satisfactory has yet been devised for measuring 
water in irrigating canals that is sufficiently simple ahd 
accurate for general application. 



CANAL CONSTRUCTION. 

This is a most important feature of any system of irri- 
gation, for upon the proper survey and completion of the 
canal, often depends the honest and equitable distribution 
of water among those interested. This applies, not only 
to the main canals, but likewise, to the entire system of 
ditches, sub-laterals, channels, etc., by or through which 
the water is to be conveyed. Losses and troubles innum- 
erable are annually occurring, by reason of the faulty con- 
struction, or lack of engineering skill in surveying the 
route to be occupied.* 

To determine the proper form of channel, the right 
slopes, grades, strength of banks, the best route to follow 
( if a choice is given) and other things not named, requires 
skill and judgment on the part of the engineer. A lack 
in any of these essentials may cause widespread ruin and 
disaster. 

WATER MEASUREMENTS. 

The quantity of water which a ditch carries, expressed 
in cubic feet per second, may be obtained by multiplying 
the area of the wet cross-section of the ditch, expressed in 
square feet, by the mean velocity of the water at the cross- 
section selected, expressed in feet per second, f 



* Note.— For much valuable inf ormation on canal construction and water 
measurements, the author acknowledges indebtedness to Messrs. J. S. Green, C. E. 
and Walter H. Graves, C. E., of Colorado, 

t Note.— A cross-section of a ditch means a vertical section at right angles to 
the course of the ditch. 



CANAL CONSTRUCTION. 37 

In connection with the actual measurement of the 
velocity of the water, let it be borne in mind that the 
water does not move with equal velocities at all points of 
the cross-section, but that, as a rule, the velocity increases 
from the sides towards the center of the channel, and from 
the bottom upwards to a point a little below the surface of 
the water. 

By the mean velocity is meant that certain velocity 
which, if common to all the threads of water, would 
produce the same discharge as that occasioned by the 
varying velocities which actually exist; or, in other words, 
it- is the average of the velocities of all of the threads of 
water passing through the cross-section. 

There are many methods, more or less convenient, of 
measuring the mean velocity of water flowing in a ditch. 
The best, and the one adopted by this department in rating 
measuring flumes, is that in which a current meter is used. 
The current meter is a machine which registers the number 
of revolutions which a vaned wheel when, submerged in 
running water, makes in any observed number of seconds. 
The number of revolutions divided by the observed num- 
ber of seconds, gives the number of revolutions of the 
vaned wheel per second. As the meter, before being used, 
has been rated, so that the velocity corresponding to any 
number of revolutions per second of the vaned wheel is 
known, it follows that by its use the velocity of the water 
at any point of the cross-section can become known. The 
average of the velocities obtained by a number of observa- 
tions at the proper points, will give the mean velocity of 
the water through the entire cross-section. 



38 IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 

To obtain the maximum surface velocity, select a por- 
tion of the ditch, near its head, which is free from weeds, 
and from eddies, still water, and other irregularities, and 
which is as nearly straight and of uniform cross-section as 
can be obtained for, say a distance of 125 feet, then lay off 
a line, 100 feet in length, parallel and adjacent to this part 
of the ditch, mark the ends of the 100-foot line by stakes; 
use for a float a chip, or small block of wood, of such form 
as not to catch the wind or project far below the surface ; 
cause the float to remain in the swiftest current throughout 
its course ; place it in the current some distance above the 
upper end of the 100-foot line, so that it will have acquired 
the velocity of the water by the time it reaches that point ; 
start the stop-watch, or note the time, when the float 
passes the upper end of the 100 foot line, and stop the 
stop-watch, or again note the time, when the float passes 
the lower end of the 100 foot line; 100 feet, divided by the 
number of seconds it took the float to run that dis- 
tance, will give the velocity of the float in feet per second. 
(Illustration : If it took twenty -five seconds for the float 
to run 100 feet, the float would run \^ =4. feet per sec- 
ond ; if forty seconds were required for it to run 100 feet, 
its velocity would be 1 -£$ —2.5 feet per second.) Repeat 
this operation several times, in order to be positive that the 
maximum surface velocity has been obtained. 

The form of channel is determined largely by the object 
or purpose of its construction ; that is, if to be used to de- 
liver water at a certain point some distance from its head, 
a trapazoidal form is generally adopted, set rather deeply 
into the ground, and with a bottom width of from two and 



CANAL CONSTRUCTION. 39 

a half to three times its depth, this character of channel 
giving the greatest carrying capacity and least liable to 
destruction and casualty. This form of channel is also 
used on steep hillsides, with but one bank, the lower one. 

If, however, it is the purpose to distribute water to the 
adjacent land along the course of the canal, the channel 
should be shallower, to have the water at all times accessi- 
ble, the depth usually one-eighth or one-tenth the width. 
When the channel crosses an open, comparatively level 
plain it is made partly in excavation and partly in embank- 
ment, and has the appearance of parallel railroad grades 
with a burrow pit intervening. 

In this form a comparatively small amount of excava- 
tion gives a large cross-section, and can be cheaply con- 
structed, although it is a channel that is peculiarly liable 
to destruction. 

In loose, sandy or gravelly soils, the side slopes are 
usually two and one-half or three to one ; in firm, stiff soils, 
one and one half or two to one, and in rock, from a 
fourth to one to one to one. In the large canals it is cus- 
tomary to slope the bottom towards the center, which is 
from one to three feet deeper than the sides 

The matter of slope or grade is always a perplexing 
question. If the water is to be carried some distance be- 
fore' it is to be used, a general rule might apply, viz : To 
give the channel all the fall the soil will stand, as the 
greater the slope the more rapid the current, and the 
greater the velocity the greater the delivering capacity. 
This would, of course, lessen the size of the canal re- 
quired, therefore the cost of construction. But on the 



40 IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 

other hand it would lengthen the canal, cause it to run 
lower and cover less land. To correctly determine the 
dividing line between an excessive cost of construction in 
order to embrace more territory on one hand, and too 
great a sacrifice of territory to the cost of construction on 
the other, is a matter that will call for the exercise of the 
engineer's best judgment. 

However, these matters, as well as most others in canal 
construction, are determined by financial considerations 
rather than by other conditions; that is, the financial factor 
is the controlling one of the problem, and stringent finances 
may often be more responsible than poor engineering for 
bad results. 

Grades and slopes generally range between I in 6.600 
or .000151, and I in 1,760, or .000568. 

The Citizens canal, in southern Colorado, has a fall of 
1 in 10,560, or .0000947 along a portion of its course — six 
inches per mile. This is probably the least slope given to 
any of the large canals, and the greatest may probably be 
found in the rock cuts of the Del Norte canal, which has a 
fall of about thirty feet per mile. Of course, nothing but 
rock could stand such a current as this. 

The larger the volume of water the less the slope 
necessary to give it a required velocity, so that when the 
nature of the soil is known, and the velocity of current 
that it can stand, then, with the volume of water fixed, the 
grade-slope can easily be determined. 

With too sluggish a current the canal soon chokes 
up with water-grass and weeds. 



CANAL CONSTRUCTION. 4 1 

The velocity of current generally sought is from three 
feet to five feet per second. 

In the alignment, while it is necessary to follow the 
grade line contour in a general way, to adhere to it exactly 
would give a degree of sinuosity and in many instances such 
sharp, angular bends that the flow would be greatly im- 
peded. It is often better to shorten the course and make 
it more direct, even at an additional cost in cuttings and 
embankments. Of course, the direct line is the shortest, 
the delivering capacity of a straight channel is greater, and 
the wear and tear is less. 



LIST OF GRAINS, GRASSES, ETC. 
FOR GENERAL PLANTING. 



WHEAT. 

Defiance, White Russian, Blounts No. 15, Saskat- 
chan, Fife, Spring Wheat. 

OATS. 

White and Black Russian, White Welcome. 

BARLEY. 

Hulless — Common six-rowed. 

RYE. 

Mammoth Spring Rye, fall or winter. 
corn. 

Improved Pride of the North — Early Dakota — Im- 
proved Learning. 

POTATOES. 

Beauty of Hebron — Rose Seedling — Early Rose — 
Mammoth Pearl — Snow Flake. 

BUCKWHEAT. 

Silver Hall — Japanese (for trial). 

SORGHUM. 

Early Amber Cane. 



LIST FOR GENERAL PLANTING. 43 

BROOM CORN. 

Evergreen — Extra Early Japanese. 

CLOVER. 

Alfalfa, Esparsette, Red Clover, Alsike, White Clover. 

GRASSES. 

Red Top, Timothy, Orchard Grass, English Blue 
Grass ; Hungarian, German and Common Millet. 

NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 

Kaffir Corn, Yellow and White, Millo Maize, Large 
African Millet. 

FIELD PEA. 

Common Canadian. 

HOPS. 

EngHsh Cluster. 

TOBACCO. 

White Burley, Connecticut Seed Leaf, Hester, Mis- 
souri Broadleaf. 

PEANUTS. 

White Teanestand — Savatilla — Early Spanish. 




ESPARSETTE. 



ALFALFA AND ESPAESETTE. 

Alfalfa has become a household word among the 
farmers of the west. It is the great staple forage plant in 
-at least a dozen states and territories of the country. 
Every year adds to its popularity. It grows and flourishes 
in almost every soil that is suited to any crop, and under 
fair conditions will take care of itself and bring better re- 
turns than any similar plant yet tested. It should as a 
rule be sown early in the spring on well prepared ground. 
The deeper and richer the soil the stronger the growth. 

The seed of the best quality, free from noxious weeds 
and fresh, should be put in reasonably deep, at least so that 
it will be protected from exposure to drying winds. The 
drill may be used or seed sown broadcast. In the one 
case, about fifteen pounds to the acre will be needed, and 
the other case from twenty-five to thirty pounds. 

If a crop of seed is to be raised, the stand should be 
thin. 

Avoid, if possible, watering the young growth until it 
is a few inches high, for the reason that the ground is 
liable to bake and the tender leaves to sun scald. Some- 
times oats and barley are sown with alfalfa, and afford a 
very good protection to it in making a start. From three 
to four cuttings are usually made in Colorado after the land 
is well seeded. In California, on account of the almost 
continuous period of growth, double this number of cut- 
tings may be secured. 



46 IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 

The land is usually watered early in the spring and 
also after each cutting. Alfalfa is a very deep rooting 
plant and where the soil is naturally moist, may be grown 
without irrigation if it becomes well established. 

It is also one of the best fertilizers known to the 
farmers of the West. The great roots, when turned under, 
enrich the soil immensely, and this fact seems destined to 
secure for it nearly as much popularity as the enormous 
yields of forage it produces. It can both restore exhausted 
soil and furnish the elements of fertility to other soils de- 
ficient in them from any cause. 

In regard to irrigation, with this as with any crop, one 
should be governed by the conditions of the soil. It is 
well to observe the precaution of not letting water stand 
long on the Alfalfa field, nor to freeze on ground seeded to 
it. Neither will it thrive long if water stands around the 
roots. Start the mower "just when the plant is coming 
into blossom " is the now pretty "generally accepted rule, 
without, of course, seed is desired. In this case it must be 
allowed to mature, and should always be saved from the 
first cutting. " Make hay while the sun shines" is an old 
maxim which applies with especial force to the Alfalfa 
harvest. " Cut one day, let it lay in the swath and cure all 
the next day, rake up early on the morning of the third 
and bunch and place in cock; let it cure in cock from one 
to three days." These are about the right fair weather 
directions. If weather is not favorable a longer time will 
be needed to cure the crop. Place the hay under cover if 
barn or shed room is at hand. If not, stack securely so 



ALFALFA AND ESPARSETTE. 47 

that there will be as little liability as possible to injury 
from rain.* 

Much that has been said of Alfalfa will apply to what 
promises, in some parts of the land, to be its great rival — 
Esparsette, or Sainfoin (pnobrychis saliva). This plant is of 
quite recent introduction in this country, but is of the same 
family as Alfalfa, and has a similar history. Esparsette, or 
Sainfoin, is thought to be especially adopted to light, 
chalky, sandy and gravelly soils, and hill slopes, and in 
arid sections where irrigation is not obtainable. But the 
hillside or mountain slope, with the limestone formation, 
seems to be best adapted to its culture and development. 

The claim is made that it will stand dry weather far 
better than Alfalfa, and thrive at an altitude 8,000 feet 
above sea level. It is said to be the main reliance for 
grass in the high regions of Switzerland. It should be 
sown early in the spring, either broadcast or drilled, and 
from forty to sixty pounds of seed to the acre are recom- 
mended. Cover to depth of from one-half inch to one 
and one- half inches, depending on conditions of soil and 
chances for moisture. Like Alfalfa, it may be sown with 
oats, barley or other grains, and should be irrigated after 
each cutting. One great advantage claimed for it over other 
clovers is that it can be safely pastured without causing 
bloat. The grass and hay are of the first quality for stock 
and the seed itself is said to be more nutritious than oats. 

Two cuttings each season are usually secured. Great 



* Note— Those who have the book, " Horticulture by Irrigation." will find in 
the special chapter on Alfalfa, pages 91 to 100 inclusive, valuable hints on pastur- 
ing, feeding, the relief of bloat in cattle, etc. 



48 IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 

merit is likewise claimed for it as a honey plant. Enough 
is already known of esparsette in this country to justify a 
pretty thorough test of it in different sections of the land, 
but the claim can scarcely be made that is likely to super- 
cede alfalfa as a hay or forage plant. The two should go 
together to fill the vast needs of the west in the direction 
of hay products and pasturage.* 



* For the cut of Esparsette shown herewith, we acknowledge indebtedness to 
Messrs. Bartildes & Co., of the Colorado Seed House, Denver. 



CO-EN", CAISTE AND FODDER CROPS. 

Field and garden corn, amber cane or sorghum, and 
broom corn all require substantially the same soil, culture 
and treatment with respect to irrigation. In the care of no 
other crops are the benefits of deep stirring of the soil 
before planting more apparent. While irrigation at the 
proper time is often essential to the right development of 
these products, they are very impatient of excessive water- 
ing, and hence there is no more certain way of retarding 
growth and maturity than by careless application of water. 
Better not irrigate at all, than to use unsparingly. 

One irrigation is all that is ordinarily needed, but two 
are sometimes given corn. Quite often, however, under 
-favorable conditions, no water is required to be turned on. 
In this latter instance, ample preparation of the ground in 
advance of planting, is usually supplemented by timely 
cultivation during the growing season. 

Broom corn should be planted rather later than field 
corn, but the soil should be in the best possible condition. 
The Evergreen is a standard variety. * 

One point to be observed in sorghum culture is that 
highly manured or fertilized soil is apt to impair the qual- 
ity of the sugar or syrup if grown for this purpose. 

* The extra early Japanese variety is giving great satisfaction where tested in 
Colorado. It is probably the earliest known variety, and matures in about eighty 
days from planting. It also stands dry weather and generally matures perfectly 
without irrigation. Is especially valuable as a fodder crop. 



50 ( IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 

The plant too when young, is quite tender and gener- 
ally requires hoeing or hand work, before the cultivator 
can be used, and if there is a tendency to form a crust over 
the surface before the growth is fairly up, it is important to 
go over the rows with a light rake or some similar imple- 
ment, and remove the obstruction. Plant the seed from 
one and one-half to two inches deep. As to the precise 
time when to apply water, if at all, to these corn or cane 
crops, one should be governed entirely by circumstances. 
Whenever a tendency is seen to droop and wither on the 
part of the growth, and the cultivator does not correct this 
it is pretty safe to water. The usual time is. when the silk 
is beginning to form or the seed in the cane to develop. 
In some instances from three to four irrigations are given, 
but this is quite uncommon. 

Several non-sacharine sorghums are well worthy of 
extended cultivation. Among the most valuable of these 
are Kaffir corn, Millo maize and Large African millet. 
These are chiefly valuable for fodder purposes, and either 
green or when properly cured, are greatly relished by 
stock. The soil, cultivation and irrigation required are 
similar to corn. One of the chief essentials to success 
with these is to have the soil, in advance of planting, in 
prime condition. When grown as a forage plant, irrigation 
is seldom required, but planting should usually be done 
early in the season. For fodder purposes rye and oats are 
sown both in fall and spring, and where soil is well pre- 
pared in advance of sowing they do not need irrigation. 



TOBACCO. 5 1 

THE FIELD PEA. 

This is often a most valuable plant both for grain and 
forage. For best results the soil should be rich and mel- 
low and rather moist, although this crop will do very well, 
on any average soil. Plant early in the spring with drill 
and at the rate of a bushel or perhaps a little more, if for 
grain, and if for forage from one and one-half to two 
bushels per acre. Harvest for forage when the plant is in 
full bloom, and for grain as soon as it begins to ripen and 
before the vine is too dry. 

Two crops may often be grown for forage under irri- 
gation. The field pea when ground is excellent feed either 
for cows or for swine, and is more valuable than corn, and 
the yield per acre is fully as great. Two irrigations are 
generally required for grain and one for fodder. 



TOBACCO. 

The finest leaf is raised on light, rich, warm soils, but 
the average upland soil of Colorado is thought to be well 
adapted to its growth. 

Grow plants in seed bed and plant in open ground the 
last of May, in rows three feet by two feet apart. 

If coarse growing kinds are grown, more room than 
this will be needed. Let the water follow the planting. 
Begin cultivation at once after plants are set out. Stir the 
soil close up to them frequently until the plants are two to 
two and a half feet high and ready for topping. With 
thorough cultivation one irrigation is usually sufficient for 
tobacco. 



52 IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 

Strong plants set in May in this latitude will usually 
be ready to cut early in September. But when mature the 
leaf will stand the frosts of September without injury. 

The various operations of priming, (which consists of 
removing all the lower leaves near the ground,) topping, 
(which is the removal of the flower stalks when large 
enough to be taken out,) of suckering, (the purpose of 
which is to confine the plant to the growth and quick 
maturity of a certain number of leaves,) all require atten- 
tion during the growing season. Likewise injurious in- 
sects must be watched, and the right development and 
consequent value of the crop, will depend on the care and 
promptness with which these various processes are at- 
tended to. This is likewise true of the matter of curing, 
stripping, bulking and packing. But the details of these 
are beyond the province of this work. 

The cost of producing one acre of tobacco last season 
at the Colorado State Agricultural College was found to be 
$78.50, and the quality produced was pronounced by 
experts to be equal to the best. Of the eighteen varieties 
tested there all fully matured. 



THE POTATO. 

Early and deep plowing are especially recommended 
for the best results with the potato, and a good, sandy loam 
with clayey sub-soil is found well adapted to the right de- 
velopment of the great tuber. Always select sound, 
smooth, well ripened seed for planting, and if large, cut 
twice in two, and the smaller ones once in two. Avoid 



THE POTATO. 



53 



cutting seed too small in a very dry climate, as it is liable to 
wither and become dried up before it has time to sprout. 
For the same reason never cut seed many days before 
planting as it is apt to become dry and worthless. 

Mark the ground off in straight rows from three and 
one half to four feet apart. Drop the seed from fifteen to 
twenty inches apart in the rows. When the acreage to be 
put in is large use a two horse planter. 




CONVENIENT POTATO CELLAR. 

a, boards; b, straw; c, dirt; d, posts running lengthwise of cellar; h, door; g, shoot 

and ventilation; i, bottom of pit. 

In regard to irrigation, all potato growers agree that 
the longer the vines can be kept growing without water- 
ing, the better for the crop, but when they begin to wither 
and turn yellow around the roots, turn on the water. 
Furrow the rows out with shovel plow with wings attached 
and make the channels so that the vines will not be flooded. 



54 IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 

This is an important precaution, as permitting water to 
flow over on the vines is apt to ruin the crop. Two irri- 
gations are generally sufficient and sometimes one, if ap- 
plied at the right time. As soon as the soil becomes dried, 
so that it will not be sticky in working, and before it has 
time to bake, cultivate up loose and deeply. 

By all means keep down the weeds. 

The yield can be largely increased by trenching in 
well-rotted stable manure or by the use of artificial ferti- 
lizers, like bone meal, mixed with the soil in the bottom 
of the trench.* 



BUCKWHEAT, 

This crop succeeds well in portions of Colorado and 
the West. In fact it wiil often do well on soils where 
other cultivated crops fail. The demand will always be 
sufficient to justify quite extensive plantings. But enough 
should be sown to warrant its being milled, wherever 
grown. About the middle of June is the right time for 
putting in in Colorado. The silver hulled is the best for a 
general crop. It is a better yielder, matures earlier and is 
of finer quality than the common sorts. 

The Japanese variety is worthy of extended trial, and 
wherever it succeeds is profitable. It is stated to mature 
earlier and produce more heavily than even the silver 
hulled. Buckwheat requires but little irrigation, and often 
none. 



* For other hints in regard to potato culture, marketing, etc., see special chap- 
ter in " Horticulture by Irrigation." 



THE SUGAR BEET. 55 

PEANUTS. 

Those who desire to grow peanuts as a farm crop will 
find them easy of culture, certain bearers and heavy yield- 
ers under fair conditions. 

Warm sandy soil, moderately rich, is the best, and 
the seed may be put in in drills about three and one-half 
feet apart, or planted in hills so that the plants can be 
readily cultivated. Plant the latter part of April or early 
in May, either in pod or shelled, from two to four nuts in a 
hill, and about the same depth as corn.* 

The peanut stands drouth exceedinly well and scarce- 
ly ever requires more than one irrigation, which may be 
given as the tubers are forming. But it may often be 
grown without any irrigation whatever. An ordinary yield 
is not far from 50 to 1 00 bushels to the acre and the de- 
mand is large and constantly increasing. 

The Savatilla, a new variety, is claimed to be of great 
merit on account of extreme earliness in ripening, enor- 
mous productiveness and fine quality. 



THE SUGAR BEET. 

Within a few years a considerable interest has shown 
itself in the direction of sugar beet culture. Recent ex- 
periments have proven that several Western States are 
well adapted to the production of a superior quality of this 
beet, and it seems destined to become an important crop 
as soon as the problem of the necessary capital and manu- 
facturing facilities can be solved. In other words, the 

* Note.— It is better to have the seed shelled, but care should be taken not to 
break the skin of the meat, as this is often fatal to its germination. 



56 



IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 



present enormous expense required for a suitable reduction 
or diffusion plant, is almost a bar to the successful manu- 
facturing of sugar from the beet except under the most 
favorable conditions. 

Experiments with the sugar beet in Colorado in 1888 
were highly satisfactory as to yield and quality, and in 
some instances an analysis showed a per cent, of sugar in 
advance of the California product, and about equal to 
the best yields of France. 

At the Colorado Agricultural College the soil used 
was a clay loam, which had been in clover sod for three 
years previous and broken in the fall of 1887. 

The plants were irrigated four times, cultivated six 
times and hoed twice. The varieties tested, and yield of 
sugar in pounds per ton of beets, and also the relative 
yield per acre, as computed from a careful chemical 
analysis, are shown in the following table : 



VARIETY. 


Tons Beets 
Per Acre. 


Lbs. Sugar Per 
Ton of Beets. 


Lbs. Sugar 
Per Acre. 




29.04 
30.45 
25.09 
24.15 


190 
240 
227 
176 


5,517.60 


Lane's Imperial 

Vilmorin : 


7,318.00 
5,695.43 
4,250.40 







The remark is here made that, as to what would be a 
suitable soil for the sugar beet, must be proven by analysis 
or actual tests. Any good, clayey loam might do for the 
stock or table beet, but be entirely lacking in the essentials 
for the sugar-producing article. 



CONCLUSIOK 

A summary of the leading points of farm irrigation 
will show the following : 

1. That results will always be in proportion to the 
manner in which the soil is prepared before planting, and 
the after cultivation. 

2. That deep stirring of the soil and thorough cul- 
ture lessens the requirements with respect to irrigation. 

3. After land has once been subjected to irrigation, it 
will as a rule, with good culture, annually require less water, 
until the needs of the soil reach the minimum. 

4 Land should never be irrigated simply because 
water is abundant. 

5. All vegetable and hoed crops should be well cul- 
tivated as soon after irrigation as the soil is in a condition 
to work. 

6. Grass lands and meadows should usually be 
watered after each cutting, and once early in the spring. 

7. Irrigation should be thorough, especially with grain 
crops, but water should not be permitted to stand on any 
land beyond the requirements of vegetation. 

8. Great saving in the use of water, and numerous 
other benefits, may be secured by adopting improved 
methods for receiving and applying water, and for discharg- 
it from the land, and likewise by observing the effects of 
irrigation on different soils and crops. But finally it should 
be understood that "the best system" of irrigation for the 
farms and broad acres of the West is yet to be perfected 
and applied. 



58 



IRRIGATION FOR THE FARM. 



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1 



J-Iorti^ulture by Irrigation;. 



(ILLUSTRATED.) 



BY A. E. GIPSON, EX-PRESIDENT OP THE COLORADO STATE HORTICUL- 
TURAL AND PORRESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



A. concise, practical treatise on Fruit, Vegetable, Forest tree and Or- 
namental Tree and Plant Culture, with a very complete list of fruits, for- 
est trees and ornamentals for general planting west of the Missouri. 



WHAT OTHERS SAY OF IT: 

Brim full of information of value to the farmer and gardener, wheth- 
er amateur or professional, which ought to assure its presence in the hands 
of every cultivator of the soil in the arid region. — Professor James Cassi- 
day, Colorado Agricultural College. 

A valuable book. It meets a serious want, and will prove invaluable 
to planters on the plains. — Prof. J. L. Budd, the Eminent Horticultural- 
ist of Iowa. 

I embrace the earliest opportunity of saying how greatly I esteem 
this book. .It is most admirably adapted to its purpose. I wish it might 
be placed in the hands of every fruit and forest tree grower in the Rocky 
Mountain region. — Col. E. T. Ensign, State Forest Commissioner of Colo. 

" It is just what is needed. The best work of the kind out, and will 
supply a long felt want." — A. N. Hoag, "Good Luck Fruit Farm," Fort 
Collins, Colorado. 

" A good thing, and those who follow closely the methods therein set 
forth, cannot go far wrong." — John Gravestock, Fruit Grower and Nur- 
seryman, Canon City, Colorado. 



I like the book very much. Just the hand-book needed. — S. W. De 
Busk, Pomologist and Editor, Trinidad, Colorado. 

It is clear, practial and valuable. — (From Hon. Charles W. Garfield, 
* of Michigan, ex-Secretary of the American Pomological Society.) 

It covers more ground than any other book of its size and to good 
purpose. It is not composed of mere theories, but is full of practical in- 
formation from a man whose experience and position give weight to that 
which he writes.— (From Charles A. Green, Esq., the well known New 
York Nurseryman and Horticulturalist and Editor of Green's Fruit 
Grower.) 

I wish to express my unqualified approval of the book. I do not see 
a single point to criticise. The book should be introduced as a text-book 
• into every school in Colorado.— (From Hon. Harris Stratton, of Fort Col- 
lins, Colorado.) 

Your book, " Horticulture by Irrigation," is " a daisy" and should be 
read by every tiller of the soil. — (From V. DeVinny, Esq., a leading hor- 
ticulturalist of Denver.) 

It fills a long felt want and should be found in every farm house in 
Colorado as well as in the home of the fruit grower and market gardener. 
I hope the people of Colorado, especially, will show their appreciation of 
your valuable book by making a careful study of it. — (From C. S. Faurot 
Esq., of Boulder, Colorado, pomologist and ex-president of the Northern 
Colorado Horticultural Society.) 

Have read "Horticulture by Irrigation " with the greatest interest. 
Had the facts contained in that volume been accessible to me when I com- 
menced fruit growing, it would have saved me thousands of dollars and 
no end of failures and vexations. It is invaluable. — (From J. S. McClel- 
land, Esq., the extensive fruit grower and farmer of Larimer County, 
Colorado.) 

A book of concentrated facts, drawn out by a long experience in Col- 
orado horticulture, and fills a very important place as a reliable guide in 
one of the most important industries of our region of the country. The 
views on horticultural irrigation especially, are valuable, not only to the 
new beginner in our peculiar system of cultivation, but eastern horticul- 
turists are seeking the very information so plainly given.— (From D. S. 
Grimes, the well known Denver Nurseryman and Horticulturist.) 



PRESS COMMENTS. 

Worth its weight in gold. — [San Luis Valley Graphic. 

The best work of the kind published. — [Greeley Tribune. 

It is a practical hand-book on the subject of horticulture and is a 
valuable compendium of facts and figures gleaned by years of experience. 
Professor Gipson is to be congratulated upon getting such an amount of 
valuable information into such a concise and compact form. — [Denver 
Daily Republican. 

In brevity the writer has scored a great point for his work. It is not 
only brief, but concise, well written, and everything is clearly under- 
stood. Mr, Gipson's book is timely and must be credited with value of 
practical study. It will become a standard authority. — [Field and Farm, 
Denver. 

It is brimful of information relating to horticulture, gardening, irri- 
gation, etc., and should be in the hands of every fruit-grower, farmer and 
gardener in the State. — [Fort Collins Courier. 

The recent work by President Gipson, "Horticulture by Irrigation," 
fills a. long felt want. The illustrations are a great help. The language 
is simple and to the point. The book gives the result of practical 
experience here in Colorado, and not the theories of men who know 
nothing of irrigation. * * * In fact, the book must be seen 
to be appreciated. No fruit grower with $1 in his pocket will look at it 
five minutes without buying it. — [Colorado Farmer, Denver, Colo. 

Price in pamphlet, 50 cents ; cloth 75 cents. Special rates to dealers 
and those ordering in quantities. For further particulars address the 
author, Greeley, Colorado, or any leading book dealer in the west. 

"Horticulture by Irrigation," with " Irrigation for the Farm/' to one 
address, in paper cover, 80 cents; both works in cloth $1.25. 



IRRIGATION PUMPS 




EVERY GRAVEL BED A RESERVOIR. 

These Pumps are operated by steam boilers, and will throw from 50 
to 2,000 gallons per minute. With live steam they will raise 60,000 gal- 
lons of water 20 feet high with one bushel of coal. 

WHAT WE CLAIM. 

First. These pumps can be bought and put in position ready for 
work cheaper than any other pumps of the same water-lifting capacity. 

Second. There are no pistons or packing to wear out, and no loss of 
power in overcoming friction. 

Third. The power is atmospheric pressure, produced by condensing 
the steam. They require no steam pressure except on a lift above that 
made by the atmosphere, which is 26 feet at sea level. 

m Fourth. No skilled labor required to run them. Any ranchman can 
operate them. 

Send for particulars, circulars and prices, to 

THE IRRIGATION PUMP CO., 

CREELEY, COLORADO. 



_A_ TILE 

THAT IS 

Useful and Durable 

IS MADE AT 

GREELEY, COLORADO. 




Can be used either for Draining, Sub-Irriga- 
tion or Conveying Water. For Culverts, 
Street and Walk Crossings, Bleaching 
Celery and various other purposes. 
Several sizes constantly on hand. 

We Guarantee a First-Class Article at Reasonable Rates. 

For Terms and Particulars, Address 

THE GREELEY BRICK AND TILE CO., 

GREELEY, COLO. 



Jl?e Qreeley Nurseries 



WELL KNOWN AND WELL ESTABLISHED, 

Foremost in testing and introducing the 
best varieties for the IN T ew West. 



Whenever Nursery Stock is needed, address 

THE GREELEY NURSERIES, 

GREELEY, COLORADO. 



The GloverlaaiD Apiary. 



CHOICE HONEY 

Both Extracted and in Comb constantly 
on hand and guaranteed strictly pure. 



Goods put up in the best of shape for shipment by 
freight or express Everything first-class. 

W. L. PORTER, Greeley, Colo. 



